Descripción del proyecto
Medición y comprensión de la repercusión de las emisiones tectónicas de CO2
Los cambios climáticos del pasado y las variaciones paleoatmosféricas de CO2 se vieron significativamente afectados por procesos geológicos. Los yacimientos profundos de carbono persisten y pueden activarse dentro de la litosfera con fallas en las zonas de fallas continentales, creando vías para emisiones sustanciales de CO2. Por desgracia, la investigación sobre su impacto climático y desgasificación en el pasado se ha visto obstaculizada por técnicas, tecnologías y marcos de medición ineficaces. El equipo del proyecto EMERGE, financiado con fondos europeos, pretende desarrollar soluciones innovadoras para afrontar estos retos. Entre ellas figuran el uso de drones aerotransportados para medir el flujo de CO2, técnicas de modelización numérica para comprender el control geodinámico sobre el transporte litosférico de CO2, y el estudio y la integración de datos sobre fallas pasadas y desgasificación tectónica.
Objetivo
Geological processes governed paleo-atmospheric CO2 variations and exerted major control on past climate change beyond the million-year time scale. Vast deep carbon reservoirs are known to be activated at continental rifts, where the faulted lithosphere provides CO2 pathways and where recent surveys detected massive CO2 emissions. However, progress in quantifying natural CO2 degassing and its impact on past climate is impeded for 3 reasons: (1) current CO2 flux measurement techniques require labourintensive field surveys that can cover only small areas; (2) a consistent framework uniting geodynamic processes and CO2 transport to the surface is missing; (3) past CO2 flux from rifts is difficult to quantify because compilations do not account for geodynamic characteristics.
EMERGE will enter uncharted territory by linking 3 innovative approaches. The project will: (1) advance airborne CO2 flux measurements via drones. Focusing on rifts in Kenya, Ethiopia, Czech Republic and Iceland, we will measure for the first time tectonic CO2 flux distributions of entire regions allowing unprecedented insight into subsurface CO2 pathways; (2) characterise geodynamic controls on lithospheric CO2 transport via novel numerical modelling techniques; and (3) integrate data of all known rifts since 540 million years ago to understand the role of tectonic degassing in shaping Earth’s climate through time.
Zooming in on the geosphere-atmosphere interface, this project integrates interdisciplinary ideas and methods from geodynamics, micrometeorology, petrology, and paleoclimatology. EMERGE may generate broad impact on scientific and societal level: dronebased CO2 flux measurements will be a game changer in understanding tectonic CO2 release at rifts and other plate boundaries worldwide. The methodological and scientific advances may be essential for establishing a solid baseline of tectonic CO2 emissions to accurately quantify controls on past and future climate change.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypaleoclimatology
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robotsdrones
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologypetrology
- social sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systems
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
14473 POTSDAM
Alemania